


Regrets and Cuddles

by SnowyAria



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Light Bondage, Sleepy Cuddles, tame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 10:42:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19105471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyAria/pseuds/SnowyAria
Summary: Takes place during and after the Ifrit primal quest line. Thancred deeply regrets sending the Warrior of Light (Aiu'tarou, female Miqo'te) on such a dangerous first mission and resolves to keep her safe by staying away until he is strong. Aiu'tarou has other plans.





	Regrets and Cuddles

                _Aiu’tarou, please be safe!_ Thancred begged, his feet kicking up the desert sands into clouds behind him as he sprinted towards the Amalj’aa camp. Just earlier that day, he sent his Miqo’te friend and fellow Scion to catch a traitor red-handed, but the tables had turned. Aiu’tarou and her party were captured on the spot, with scouts reporting their imminent sacrifice to the primal Ifrit.

                _This is my fault,_ Thancred cursed. Aiu’tarou was just a beginner, newly inducted into the Seventh Dawn. He should not have sent her on such a mission straight away. Something about her energy, her passion, and her bright smile made him lose his guard. He felt that no matter what she did, everything would always work out in the end. And now she was being put to death.

                The stars above him shined softly around a nearly empty moon, but the dark desert lit up like day from the inferno in the distance. In front of Thancred, several Amalj’aa looked towards the flames of their god in reverence, ignoring their guard duty. He snatched two knives from his side, swiftly letting them fly and find homes in the beast’s necks. “Now is not a chivalrous time,” he muttered, wondering if Aiu’tarou would yell at him if she saw such a sneaky act. He ripped out the daggers as he passed, giving them a quick flick to clear off most of the blood then slamming them back in their holsters. A group of Amalj’aa ahead of him turned at the commotion, then brandished their weapons. They could hardly hide their grins as they rushed forward, passionately bellowing their war cries.

                “Victory celebrated too soon is but asking for reversal,” Thancred said with a smile to himself as he pushed to meet them in battle.

* * *

                After the last warrior fell before him, a cry ripped through the otherwise quiet desert as the flames began to die.

                _Am I too late?_ Thancred thought, refusing to catch his ragged breath and instead pushing himself the last distance to the ritual site.

                His sunken heart soared as he ran into view. Aiu’tarou stood in the open, her cream blonde hair gently swaying in the light desert breeze. No sign of the lord of fire around her; only the sounds of his own footsteps hit his ears. She must have heard him coming and slowly turned towards him. His heart skipped a beat before sinking into despair once again.

                Aiu’tarou’s eyes were blank and unfocused, her jaw hanging slightly limp. The usually whimsical movements of her ears were hushed and sullen as well. Thancred very much wanted to run up and ease her pain, but what right did he have as the cause of her suffering?

                “Pray forgive my lateness!” he called out instead, trying to act out his usual free-flowing nature. “I was delayed by a congregation of Amalj’aa zealots. I swear, each seemed more evangelical than the last.” As if his words summoned them from beyond the grave, a straggling Amalj’aa soldier roared and rushed from behind the rocks to avenge their fallen lord.

                “Hmph! Persistent lot,” he said, leaping off the ground. He gracefully arced through the air, easily missing the Amalj’aa’s sword and landing three knives into their soft back.

                “Phew…” he let out, gazing around for any additional attackers. He wondered briefly if he overdid it, defending Aiu’tarou like a dancer putting on a show. Swooning ladies as a bard was second nature to him, but he didn’t fight to impress tonight.

                “I see the Bloodsworn wasted no time extracting the captives. No less than I’d expect from the Flame General’s handpicked men.” His words were empty observations of what was in sight. His mind screamed in agony for him to help the pained figure that stood alone. She was mere feet away, but it felt like miles apart. Finally, he broke free from the shackles of hesitation and hugged Aiu’tarou tightly.

                “I feel I owe you an apology, Aiu’tarou. Had I known this mission would prove so dangerous, I would never have left you to face it alone. You have been given a veritable baptism of fire.” His poetics meant nothing now, but he couldn’t bear the silence. He couldn’t even feel her warmth through the isolating plate armor she wore.

                “It’s not your fault…” she muttered, neither hugging back nor pulling away. After some time, she relaxed a little, letting her head fall forward onto his chest with a small bump. “A lot happened, that’s all…”

                The two stood together as one in the silent night. Thancred’s heart felt like it would burst. He wanted to say something, anything, but for once his songlike words failed him. Instead, he pulled back and grabbed Aiu’s shoulders. He tried to look into her eyes, but her expression turned to a deep, tired sadness and looked away. _I’m not what she needs right now,_ he thought, letting her go and stepping back.

                “Let us continue this conversation in more agreeable surrounds. Camp Drybone, shall we say?” he offered in his best gentle bard voice, trying to mask his own pain. They jogged in silence back across the sands, away from the hellfire that shook their resolve and drove reality into their heads.

* * *

                Thancred buried his head in his arms at the tavern’s table, an untouched and now warm beer resting next to him.

                “I’m the worst…” he muttered. A week had past since the primal incident, but he couldn’t look Aiu’tarou in the eye since. He just blew her off for the third time, her irritation unconcealed on her face.

                “I have to do better… I have to be stronger…”

                Aiu’tarou may have lived through her brush with death, but he had the grim job of telling her every other survivor had to be killed. It felt like plunging a knife into her gut as he watched her take in the news. What hit Thancred harder was that he almost actually had to do that to her, if it wasn’t for the strange power of the Echo. Without that, she’d be a mindless husk worshiping the fallen fire lord for the rest of her days. He couldn’t be involved with her until he was strong enough to prevent something like this, or worse, from happening again.

                Eventually, he pulled himself up and reached for the now disgusting beer, but his hand slipped past it. His vision blurred as he looked for the stein, bumping it over in the process. His muscles felt like sandbags, increasing in weight by the second.

                “A sleep… spell…?” he muttered before he couldn’t keep his thoughts around any longer. His eyelids grew heavy, and the world grew dark.

* * *

                As he came to, he felt oddly comfortable with his head on something soft. _Did I fall asleep at the inn?_ he wondered, seeing a pillow and sheets around him, but his adrenaline spiked when he couldn’t pull his arms from behind him. _I was kidnapped!?_ He pulled against his bonds, but they held fast against his wrists. This person wasn’t playing around. He quietly surveyed the room, trying not to let his captors know he was alert. He had to get the upper hand, fast. However, his eyes stopped at the sight of Aiu’tarou staring down at him from the foot of the bed. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips tight.

                “Thancred. Talk,” she commanded.

                “I do not suppose you are here as my rescuer perchance?” he said with an innocent smile.

                “As your captor,” she replied simply. Her glare drove him further back into the pillows. “Why have you been running away from me? Any time I catch eye of you, you quickly spin the other way. Anytime I actually catch you, something urgent comes up, and you flee.” Aiu’tarou leaned forward, resting her hands on the bed and peering at him with a gentler gaze that lessened her intensity. She looked much more delicate and beautiful in a white blouse decorated with stitched roses instead of the cold plate armor from before. Thancred couldn’t help but look away.

                “I failed you and nearly sent you out of this life. I’ve no right to be with you,” he began.

                “Who are you to judge your own worth?” Aiu’tarou interrupted. “I waited to see you after that day. I wanted to hear your sweet voice, listen to your embellished tales, see your soft smile, but you never came!”

                _Embellished?_ he wanted to argue, but his words caught in his throat at the sight of Aiu’tarou pulling herself onto the bed and inching over on all fours.

                “It’s not your fault what happened that day. I accepted the risk when I agreed to be a Scion. The enemy was one step ahead of us, that’s all. Just… please be the cheerful bard I fell in love with.”

                Thancred’s heart beat wildly in his chest. He wasn’t used to a woman’s words swooning _him._ “S-surely you jest, loving one such as I,” he tried to bluff, but Aiu’tarou was mere inches from his face at this point.

                “Of course it’s no jest,” she said, then smiled warmly. “If you’ll have me, I’ll stay with you forever.”

                _How was this woman so bold_? he wondered in awe. He had his own practice fluttering ladies’ hearts, sure, but this put him to shame. “I would be a fool to let you go again,” he finally replied, then smiled back. He leaned forward, meeting Aiu’tarou halfway. Her kiss gently warmed his lips with a sweet taste like candy as he felt his worries melt from the present. As they pulled apart, he could finally look into her golden eyes without shame.

                “I do not suppose you would be willing to untie me at this point, Aiu’tarou?”

                “Maybe when you call me Aiu,” she said, a mischievous smile crossing her face. Instead, she gave his shoulder a curt push, toppling him onto the pillow. She dropped onto the bed as well, then slowly slide her hands from his shoulders down to his waist. Thancred shivered and squirmed slightly at her touch, feeling completely at her mercy as she wrapped her arms around his back. To his surprise, she just nuzzled her head underneath his chin and stopped.

                “I’ve had a long day without your help, so wake me up in an hour,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and clutching Thancred like a teddy bear.

                “You are joking, right, Aiu’tar- Aiu? Hello? Hello!?”


End file.
